“Okay, tell me everything!” Mari said as soon as the four of them—Nik, Laru, Rigel, and she—were alone, making their way slowly back to her burrow with full stomachs and even fuller hearts. “How did you find Jaxom and Mason?”
“I didn’t. Rigel found them.”
Mari glanced down at her young Shepherd, who was trotting beside her carrying a slobbery stick in his mouth. The stick was the size of one of his legs.
“Now you really have to tell me everything.”
“There’s not much to tell. I was just finishing up at the burrow. The door was open—I like the evening breeze.”
“Me, too,” Mari said, slipping her hand in his.
He grinned at her. “So, the door was open and all of a sudden Rigel starts air scenting, and he gets agitated.”
“Air scenting?”
“It’s like the tracking he can do when he sniffs the ground, only he’s sniffing the air.”
“Oh, I understand. Okay, go ahead,” Mari said.
“Next thing I know, Laru’s air scenting, too, and growling. I could tell that he recognized the scent, and that he didn’t trust it. So, I grabbed my crossbow.…” Nik paused and patted the bow that was slung across his back. “And I told Rigel and Laru to take me to what they were scenting. I found Jaxom struggling with that very sick, very violent kid. I was going to shoot him, but Jaxom called me off, told me Mason is his brother—and that we had to get to you so that you could Wash them both, immediately.”
“Jaxom wasn’t acting strange?”
“Not at first. It was almost dusk, but the sun hadn’t set yet. I had to knock Mason out, but then we tied him up and started half dragging, half carrying him to you.”
“Did you mess up your hand?”
“My hand?”
“Yeah, knocking him out.” Mari was examining the hand she was holding, finding it uninjured, and reaching for his other hand when Nik stopped her.
“Oh no. I didn’t mess up my hand. I used my crossbow to conk him across the head. It’s okay, too,” he said. “And it was only after the sun set that Jaxom started acting strange. I have to admit that he handled it well, though. He talked to me about what was happening, and told me not to panic when his voice, his skin, and even his eyes started to change. He said he could control it since it was a Third Night and he wasn’t infected with the Skin Stealer disease anymore—and he was right. I mean, I wouldn’t have wanted to be around him, say, tomorrow night had you not Washed him, but Jaxom basically just stayed Jaxom—only a meaner version.”
Mari nodded. “That’s usually about what happens to Earth Walker males on a Third Night. As long as they’re Washed, they can control themselves.”
“And Earth Walker women get sad but not catatonic and mortally depressed if they’re not Washed, too?”
“Yes, exactly. Women seem like they can go longer than men without being Washed, but that’s only because they don’t become violent. Depression is every bit as serious as anger,” Mari said.
“Do you know why Earth Walker men become angry and women become depressed?”
“I know what Mama told me. She said that Night Fever strips away who we are and reveals the basest, most negative parts of us. Men focus on the external with anger that can lead to violence, usually against themselves. Women retreat internally, and destroy themselves through sadness and self-hatred.”
“But Earth Walker males attacked Danita and Sora—violently,” Nik said.
“As far as I know, that’s never happened before. Nik, I really believe it’s the Skin Stealer disease that caused our males to be so aggressive to others.” Mari gave the dark forest around them a nervous glance. “I wonder how many more Earth Walker males there are out there, and how many of them have been infected with that horrible disease?”
“I asked Jaxom the same question. He doesn’t think there are many. No, actually, Jaxom said he doesn’t think there are any left alive at all. He said some began to turn against each other. Others died.” Nik closed his lips tightly, obviously not wanting to say more.
“Hey, you’re talking to a Healer. Give me the details.”
Nik sighed. “Jaxom said he found a small group of Earth Walker males yesterday. They were from your Clan. They were all dead. Their skin had completely sloughed off their bodies. They died in terrible agony, in pools of blood and pus.”
“That’s horrible.” Mari felt her own skin crawl.
“Just another good reason to leave this place. The poison of Port City is spreading,” Nik said.
“I’m with you. But leaving is going to be hard. I’m trying not to think about it too much, but—” She broke off, blinking fast and willing her threatening tears to go away.
“It’s okay. I understand. It’ll be worth it, though. I promise.”
“I know. We all do. Change is good, but hard.” Mari paused and then continued. “Nik, can you ever feel Rigel?”
“Feel him?”
“Yeah, like you share with Laru, only maybe not as strong, or at least not as intimately. But do you ever pick up emotions he’s sending to you?” Mari asked.
“Nope, can’t say that I have.”
“How about any other canines? Like maybe Laru when he was your father’s Companion?”
“No. Well, Laru and I have always been close, but that’s how it often is with the children of Companions.”
“How about your father? Or anyone else from your Tribe?”
“No. Companions can be very close to other people. For instance, I feel close to Davis’s Cammy. He’s a good little guy and very friendly. Davis and I are friends, so it’s natural that Cammy and I are, too. But I’ve never picked up any actual emotions from him. Why do you ask?” Nik gave her a perplexed look.
“Tonight when you and Jaxom brought Mason to me and the canines with Bast surrounded me, I could feel them. Like Rigel, only not as clear. But I could. Actually, it was really interesting. Bast has a much calmer feel than I would have thought. She reminded me of the touch of moon magick when I draw it down—cool and powerful in a very feminine way.”
Nik had come to a halt and was staring at her. “Laru!” he called, and the Shepherd, who had been padding several yards in front of them, checking for wolf spiders, sprinted to his side. Nik squatted beside his Companion. “Could you send Mari a feeling?”
Laru’s tail wagged, and suddenly Mari was washed in happiness.
She giggled. “That’s really nice, Laru! Thank you.”
Nik stared up at her. “You felt it, too?”
“Sure—happiness. Laru’s a sweetheart.”
Nik stared from Mari to Laru, finally blurting, “Why are we just now finding out Mari can accept emotions from any Companion?”
Laru barked twice, sharply. Then Nik and Mari spoke at the same time. “Because no one asked before now!”
Mari laughed again as Nik took her in his arms and kissed her hard and quick. “You are magnificent!”
“Well, thank you, Nikolas.”
“As far as I know, and all members of the Tribe of the Trees learn our history—whether we want to or not—never in the history of the Tribe has there ever been an account of a Companion being able to receive from other canines, let alone a feline.”
“Huh. I’m glad I didn’t know that before. I probably would have been too shocked to focus and draw down the moon.”
“I doubt that. Mari, I think you can do anything you set your mind to.”
Nik took her hand and Mari was so happy she felt as if her feet hardly touched the ground the rest of the way to her burrow.
* * *
“Nik! What did you do?”
Mari had stopped at the entrance to her home. She’d expected it to look different. They’d spent the past days going back and forth from there to the birthing burrow, carrying medicines, cookware, clothes, and supplies—leaving only what was needed for their last night. What she hadn’t expected was to step into a fragrant wonderland of color.
Nik had collected flowers, hanging fragrant lavender upside down from the ceiling and placing colored flowers in roughly carved wooden containers. There were brilliant maiden pinks, bursting with color, white star showers in another, with the gorgeous blossoms dripping from clusters of small, emerald stems, orange daylilies that were as fragrant as they were beautiful, a magnificent cluster of hard-to-find purple and yellow irises, and interspersed among all of them were bouquets of honey-scented forget-me-nots.
Mari went to a bouquet of the unforgettable blue flowers. She lifted a shaking hand, touching the velvet petals as she inhaled their familiar honey scent.
“Do you like it?”
Mari turned to Nik, tears washing down her face. “I love it.”
“Then don’t cry!” He pulled her into his arms. “I wanted to make you happy, not sad.”
“These are happy tears—mostly. Did you know these blue flowers are called forget-me-nots?”
“No, but I thought you’d like them because Rigel took me to them. They cover the little clearing above your burrow, totally surrounding that pretty Goddess image. But you already know that.”
“They were Mama’s favorite flower. They’d never bloomed there until I buried her beside the Goddess; then all of a sudden the clearing was filled with them.” Mari sniffed and wiped her eyes. “The Great Goddess loved Mama. I think that’s her way of showing me—though I already knew it.” Then Mari noticed what was sitting in the center of her sketching table, and she went to it, picking up the little figurine and exclaiming, “Oh, Nik! This is exquisite!” She turned the figure over and over, studying its graceful lines and its strange beauty.
“It’s a better version of the equine you asked for,” he said. “I’ve been working on this one in secret for days.”
“The detail is amazing!”
“My mother used to draw them, so I’ve been intrigued by them since I was a little boy.”
“And she said the same thing Antreas has been telling us—that they’re big enough to ride?”
“Absolutely.”
“It’s hard to imagine,” Mari said.
“Well, we’re going to see for ourselves,” he said. “Won’t that be something?”
“It will.” Mari put the carving back on her desk and turned to Nik. “You’re leaving tomorrow.”
She didn’t ask it, but he answered anyway. “I am. As soon as I help you take the rest of your things to the birthing burrow. I didn’t know if you were going to stay here the next two nights.”
Mari didn’t answer quickly because her initial reaction was to say, Of course I’m going to stay here—it’s my home. But the more she thought on it, the more she realized that she should be with the Pack on the last nights in Earth Walker territory. They would need all of their Moon Women—and she would need them. Being here would just be too sad, especially if Nik was late getting back and she and Rigel were all alone.
“Tonight will be my last night here. With you and Laru and Rigel. Tomorrow, after you leave, I will, too. I’ll join our Pack at the birthing burrow, wait there for you. It’s the right thing to do. It’s past time Moon Women stop isolating ourselves.”
“I’m so glad you said that!” Nik hugged her. “I hated the thought of you being here, alone except for Rigel.”
“It’s going to be hard enough to leave. I don’t want to be alone. I’ve been alone too much,” Mari said. Then she took Nik’s hands and looked into his loving moss-colored eyes. “Nikolas, would you take me to bed?”
“Sure! You must be tired after…” His words faded away as he understood her shy smile and the excitement in her eyes. “Oh! Bloody beetle balls, yes, I’ll take you to bed! I mean, crap! That wasn’t very romantic.”
Mari giggled. “I think it was. I appreciate your enthusiasm.”
He took her hand and they walked together to the soft pallet that had been Mari’s for her whole life.
“Would you sit there for a moment?” she asked him.
“Mari, I’d do anything you asked me to. And that includes stopping if anything doesn’t feel right to you,” Nik said.
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. There’s something you should know about Earth Walker women.” He sat, and she took a small step back. “Once we decide to share ourselves with our mate, we do so fully, joyfully, and without embarrassment. Or at least without much embarrassment.”
“That’s good to—” Nik began, but when Mari reached up and with a single motion pulled her tunic over her head and then untied her pants and let them pool around her feet his words stopped.
Mari stood before him, naked. She felt the heat of the hearth fire against her back and the heat of Nik’s gaze on the rest of her body. She’d thought of this moment often, imagining her nervousness and her excitement. But she’d never imagined the pleasure she felt as Nik’s eyes devoured her.
“You are so beautiful—so perfect.” His voice had deepened.
“Your turn,” she said, but when he started to yank off his tunic she moved close to him, stilling his hands. “I want to do it. Is that okay?”
“Mari, anything you want is okay.”
She dimpled. “Be careful with that kind of talk, Nikolas. It could get you into trouble later.”
“Well, my beautiful Moon Woman, do you know the trouble with trouble?” He raised her hand to his lips, kissing her wrist and then moving slowly, sensually, up to the inside of her forearm, to the pulse point at the bend of her elbow. There he stopped and looked up at her, a mischievous grin lifting his lips. “It starts out as fun.”
“Let’s see what kind of fun we can get into.” She pulled off his tunic, dropping it to the floor. Then she let her hands explore his naked shoulders and chest. “I like how you’re hard where I’m soft. And I like this, too.” She pulled playfully on the springy blond hair in the middle of his chest. Her hand drifted lower, caressing his muscular abdomen and finding the waist of his pants, causing Nik to suck in his breath. “Is what I’m doing okay?”
“More okay than you’ll ever know.”
“Oh, good. Would you stand up?”
He did as she asked, and she slid his pants down; then she stepped back, studying him.
“You look a lot different now than you did last time I saw you naked.”
“I was sick and half dead then. I hope you mean different as in better,” he said.
“Definitely better.” She reached out and touched him, feeling him tremble under her caress. “You’re shaking.”
“I know. I can’t help it. Your touch feels like sunfire.”
“Should I stop?”
“No! Never stop touching me.”
Nik pulled her into his arms, falling back on the pallet, kissing her deeply, thoroughly, lovingly. And Mari discovered the simple but miraculous truth—they fit together perfectly.